Soft-collar support



YV. H. FAIHLESS.

SOFT COLLAR SUPPORT.

APPucAUoN man nmzs, |92l.

Patentd Aug. 29

UNITED STATES VICTOR H. FAIRLESS, OF TRENTON/TENNESSEE.

SOFT-COLLAR SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1922.

.Application led April 23, 1921. Serial No. 463,745.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, VIo'roR H. AiRLEss, acitizen of the United States, resldlng at Trenton, in the county ofGibson, State of Tennessee, have invented Certam new and usefulImprovements in SoftCollar Supports; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as w1ll enable others skilled in the art to which it appertams tomake and use the same.

The present invention relates to lmprovements in soft collar supportsand necktie retainers, and one Vobject of the inventlon 1s to providefor the stiffening of the edges and points of soft collars which are aptto wilt and get out of shape and become unsightly. y

Another object of the invention 1s to provide for the support of thenecktie within the upper portion of the doubled over soft collar by thesame means used to stiifen the edges and points of the collar.

It is a further object of the inventlon to provide a simple andinexpensive necktie retainer and soft collar support in which the usualstandard form of soft collars is not in any way modified, but whichinvolves merely the placing upon the lnterlor of the outer fold of thecollar near the front edges and points thereof of a pocket and retainingstrap adapted to receive a doubled over piece of Celluloid or othermaterial which forms at its upper ends a support to receive the band ofthe necktie and hold it in the upper portion of the fold of the collar.g

With the foregoing and other objects 1n view, the invention will be morefully described'hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed outin the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or correspondingparts throughout the several views.

F ig. 1 is a perspective view of a soft collar with one flap thereofturned up to expose the improved soft collar support and necktieretainer;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view w1th a part broken away and showing a necktle sustained by the improved device;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the retaining strip.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, l and 2 designaterespectively the inner and outer folds of a double soft collar which isusually made with the points 3 and 4 at its 'front-portion, and 5represents a necktie shown in Fig. 2 within the collar and having a band6 which lits about between the folds l and 2 of the collar in the usualmanner. i

The invention aims to hold the free edges ofthe outer fold 2 of thecollar in a stiff and straight condition at all times to avoid theunattractive effect of wilting, and to prevent the wrinkli of the softmaterial of the collar at thenont where conditions of this kind are mosta t to occur which make the collar unsightly. The invention alsoprovidesfor the holding of the neck band 6 of the necktie at asuitableelevation whereby the necktie knot 7 carried by the band may besupported against sagging, and for this reason may always present a neatap arance.

he invention involves the provision of a pocket 8 provided by arectangular liexible strip sewed along its bottom and longitudinal edgesto each inside face of the outerV fold 2 of the collar near the freeedge and the point thereof. The upper edge of the rectangular flexiblestrip forming the pocket 8 is left free so as to provide' an open mouthfor the pocket in which a stifening strip of Celluloid or other materialis placed. This stiifening strip is preferably formed of two legs 9 and10 formed by doubling over as at 11, a thin, light piece of Celluloid orsuitable material so that the two ends overlie one another and lie insubstantially l parallel relation, one end l2 being preferably slightlylonger than the other so as to reaidily separate it from the oppositefree en Additionally, there is provided a retaining strap 13 on eachinside face of. the outer fold 2 of the collar above and in line withthe pocket 8 and spaced apart from the open mouth of said pocket, theretainin strap 13 being sewed along its lon 'tudina edges to the fold 2but belng left ree at its ends so as to be completely open to ermit thepassage therethrough of the sti ening strip.

n use, pockets 8 and retaining straps 13 having been secured bystitching or otherwise to the outer fold 2 of the soft collar in thepositions indicated best in Figs. l and 2 and previously described, thestifi'ening strips are secured therein by first separating the free endsof the strips and inserting one' of the free ends` first into the spacebetween the pocket 8 and the retaining strap 13, and then moving one ofthe legs, for instance 9, upwardly through the retaining strap 13 iintilthe doubled over end 11 of the strip is capable of being inserteddownwardly into the inoutli of the pocket 8.

'llie strip is thus moved downwardly until the major portion thereoflies within the pocket 8 and one end, for instance 12, hes outside ofthe retaining strap 13, while the other free end of the strip is heldfast within the retaining strap 13. The necktie band 6 is engagedbetween the retaining strap 13 and tlieoiiter free end of the stifeningstrip and is supported by the bight 14 provided by the lower portion ofthis outermost part of the retaining strip where it starts to enter themouthA of the pocket 8.

The, fabric material of which the pocket 8 and the retaining straps 13are made is of course of a light, inexpensive character, and it isprovided on the collar fold in an inexpensive way. Likewise theretaining strip, which may be of Celluloid, is very thin and utilizesonly a small amount of this material and is therefore relatively cheap.The strip may be removed whenever the collar is to be laundered and issubsequently replaced before Wearing in the manner heretofore described.It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the device is anextremely simple one capable of being attached to present styles of softcollars without any modification or alteration in the constructionthereof, and in which the edges and points of the soft collar aremaintained in a fresh and unwilted condition at all times, and moreoverthe necktie knot 7 is held against sagging so that the Whole presentsthroughout the period of wearing a neat and attractive appearance whichis not possible to maintain for any length of time where a stitfeiiciofthis character is not employed. It is obvious that various changes andmodifications may be made in the details ofv construction and designoftli'ahove specifically described embodiment of this inveiition withoutdeparting from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications beingrestricted only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is 1; An article of manufacture for use in connectionwith soft collars and the like comprising a sti-ip of material adaptedto be secured along its bottom and sides to the inner surface of a foldof a double collar whereby to provide with the collar a pocket beingopen at its top portion, a strap also adapted to be secured to the samefold of the collar and spaced slightly from the open mouth of thepocket, and a strip of suitable material folded upon itself and adaptedto lie with its folded portion within the pocket and project Without thesame, one free end portion of the strip lying within the strap,

the other free end of the strip extending on the exterior of the strap,substantially as described. A

2. In combinationwith a collar having inner and outer folds, of a pocketsecured to the inner face of the outer fold near the edge of the collarand being closed at its sides and bottom and open at its top portion, aretaining strap also secured to the inside face of the outer fold of thecollar in spaced relation to said pocket, and a strip of celluloidfolded upon itself and having the folded end lying in and supported bysaid pocket and with the inner free end portion extending within saidstrap, t-he outer free end portion of the strip lying outside of thestrap and adapted to slidingly receive a necktie,

substantially as described.

AVICTOR H. FAIRLESS.

